'Iron Chef' star draws large crowd to Dauphin Island gumbo cook-off

DAUPHIN ISLAND, Ala. — More than three times as many people attended Saturday’s second gumbo cook-off than last year.

"Everybody lost their summer last year," said Gene Fox, president of the Dauphin Island Chamber of Commerce, referring to the BP oil spill. "And they want it back, and this is everybody getting a head start on their summer."

In 2010, the event drew about 1,000 people, Fox said. By the final hour of Saturday’s cook-off, which featured Alton Brown, star of popular Food Network programs "Iron Chef America" and "Good Eats," the tally had topped 3,500.

"This has been overwhelming," Fox said.

Brown drew several roars from the crowd when he told them how much he enjoyed seafood.

"I love sustainable seafood," he said. "I want to let people know that American seafood’s back, Gulf seafood’s back. I personally don’t believe we should import seafood at all. Refuse to eat at restaurants that don’t serve American seafood."

Not all the gumbo featured in the cook-off, however, included seafood.

The event featured 21 different teams cooking their own variations of the dish and competing for the best flavor in a seafood category and a "freestyle" category.

Freestyle, head judge Kevin Brooks explained, could include whatever ingredient the chef decided to include.

Winners

Overall

First Place: ACP Real Estate.

Second Place: The Lust Spice Co.

Third Place: Exxon Mobil Corporation.

Freestyle

First Place: OK Bicycle Shop.

Second Place: Dixey Bar Association.

Third Place: Team Sheriff.

Best Tent Decoration: Exxon Mobil Corporation.

People’s Choice: Exxon Mobil Corporation.

But, of course, all gumbo must include okra and roux, a cooked mixture of flour and fat on which chefs work hard to achieve the perfect flavor, texture and color.

Brown called it "the hardest thing I’ve had to cook."

Some of the dishes at the cook-off included lima beans, Andouille sausage, duck and even alligator.

Dauphin Island Mayor Jeff Collier surveyed the crowd near the stage where Brown had riled them up. He smiled and said he was pleased with the turnout.

"Ninety-five percent of the people here, I’ve never seen before," he said. "This is a good start (to the spring and summer), no question about it."

The mayor called himself a gumbo "traditionalist," favoring shrimp, crab or oyster in the mix.

Before the awards were handed out, Brown took questions from the crowd and told a few jokes.

"My favorite food is gumbo," he said, perhaps sarcastically when someone asked, but then caught himself. "My favorite food is whatever my wife is going to make next."